WordPress Security Tips for the Small Business Owner
WordPress is one of the most popular website hosting services for small businesses, but recently there have been many concerns regarding its security from intruders. Hackers are finding ways of getting into WordPress sites, so if you don’t take the right precautions to prevent these individuals from compromising your site, you could lose your reputation, the trust of your customers, and, of course, your profits.
Back Up Your Data Regularly
Make it a habit to regularly back up all of the data behind your WordPress website. This will ensure that, if a disaster were to strike, you have all of your most vital information on hand to reboot your site without any hiccups.
A great option is Dropbox for WordPress if you already like Dropbox and you want to find an effortless way to back up your data regularly. But if you don’t like Dropbox, you can try any one of the many other backup cloud servers available, such as BackupBuddy.
Always Have the Latest Version of WordPress Running
WordPress continually puts out updates to its software, and updating the software whenever necessary is really simple and takes just a few minutes, so there’s no excuse for any small business owner to risk his or her livelihood because of a reluctance to update WordPress. Remember that these updates are important not only for the smooth functioning of your site but also for enhancing its security and preventing outsiders from accessing your sensitive data.
Don’t forget to keep your plugins updated as well because these are easy targets for hackers to use to access the contents of your site. When it comes to updating plugins, do so one by one to make sure you get all of them. Then review them and remove the ones you no longer need.
Many people are afraid of updating WordPress themes because they’d rather stick to what they know. But many of these new themes are improvements and, as a business owner, you should embrace change. So make sure you update them for your security.
Get Rid of the “Admin” Username
When you first create a WordPress account, you’ll be given a username to log in with. This username will be Admin, and hackers will automatically know your username if you never change it. To avoid this, create a separate account right away with a username that no one will be able to figure out. Then go ahead and delete the “Admin” username after giving your new username administrative privileges. Finally, create a nickname under which you’ll post your content so that hackers will still be unable to figure out your actual login name.
Create a 10-Character Password that’s Unique
Use a unique password for your WordPress page, as opposed to using the same password that you use for all of your other accounts. After all, in doing so, you make it really easy for a hacker to access every one of your important accounts. Instead, create a strong, unique password that’s a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. 10-character passwords are always a good way to go.